Oil price to reach $80 by 2017 – Iranian oil minister

Iran hopes its crude oil exports will be back to the pre-sanctions level of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and the oil price to rise to around $80 a barrel by end of 2016, according to Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi.

"It depends on the market situation and price level, but we
will come back to the traditional trade that we had before,"
Javadi said, Reuters reported on Monday. Asia could take more than
50 percent of Iran's exports, he added. This can happen in three
to six months once a deal with major powers to lift the oil
embargo is finalized, the minister said.

Oil prices edged up on Monday on supply concerns in the Middle
East following fighting in Iraq and the resumption of Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen
after a five-day ceasefire. Brent futures for July were up 37
cents at $67.18 a barrel by 12:20 MSK. US West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) crude rose 45 cents to $60.14.

Pushing further

Iran is still likely to push for an OPEC output reduction or
cooperation on the right amount of oil to be delivered to the
market at the upcoming June 5 meeting, Javadi said. However, he
doesn’t think the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries will cut production.

The price for Brent futures hit a five-month high in early May at above $68 a barrel, recovering
from the 50 percent loss over the past year, which was aggravated by
OPEC’s refusal to cut production despite the collapsing
prices. Iran has repeatedly called for OPEC to curb output to
support prices, saying that an increase of its oil production
will not cause a price crash.

Iranian oil exports have more than halved to about 1 million bpd
since 2012 as a result of EU and US sanctions over the country’s
nuclear program.